Buffs Return To Work With 'Preseason Camp' For Pac-12 Play

BOULDER — With three practices to utilize in their bye week, the 3-0 Colorado Buffaloes hit their lower practice fields Wednesday morning for "Fall Camp II."

Head coach Mike MacIntyre is moving this week's workouts from their regular-season Franklin Field practice facility to the lower practice fields, where the Buffs hold fall camp prior to opening the season.

Now, with Pac-12 play directly on the horizon — CU opens conference play Sept. 28 at home against UCLA (7 p.m., FS1) — MacIntyre is using this week as an opportunity to get back to the basics and put his players in the proper mindset for the conference season.

"I thought we bonded really well during our preseason camp down here and the things we did," MacIntyre said. "I wanted to say this is our preseason practice for the Pac-12. Get back to that work mentality, that this week was going to be a work week, not a vacation week. They showed that today. We got some rest on Sunday, Monday, and yesterday they lifted weights. I was really pleased with their attitude today. I think walking down the hill and walking back up the hill make them think a lot and realize how important it is."

The Buffs head into conference play with plenty of momentum and confidence after their 3-0 start that included back-to-back wins over long-time rivals Colorado State and Nebraska.

But, they are using the time this week to work on some areas that need addressing — everything ranging from defensive assignments to offensive line play to special teams.

"We have a lot of things — we went back over all three games and looked at the different things we weren't doing as well and trying to fix those," MacIntyre said. "Some of them were assignment-oriented, some of them were technique-oriented. Working on all that type of stuff, in our special teams area and offense and defense."

One area MacIntyre to which MacIntyre is paying particularly close attention is punt returns. The Buffs narrowly avoided disaster last week against New Hampshire when Ronnie Blackmon fielded a punt at his own 4-yard line, then fumbled and recovered at the CU 1.

"It's the worst I've ever seen in my 29 years of coaching," MacIntyre said.
"It's the worst decision making, and that's my fault. We're correcting that this week, that's one of our big goals to correct. We'll be much better at it, I promise you."

The Buffs also continue to work on a variety of combinations on the offensive line. Against New Hampshire, redshirt freshmen William Sherman and Jake Moretti got time with the No. 1 unit, along with sophomore Kary Kutsch.

The Buffs will practice two more times on the lower fields this week, then take Saturday and Sunday off before returning to work Monday and focusing on the Pac-12 opener vs. UCLA.

NO RUNNING UP SCORE: In two of their three wins — 45-13 over Colorado State and 45-14 over New Hampshire — the Buffs almost certainly could have added to the score late in the game.

But in both instances, MacIntyre chose to play young players and reel the offense in.

"I'm not going to run the score up on anybody," he said. "If we have to score 60 points to beat 'em 60-59, I will. (But) there's no call for (running up the score) in sports whatsoever. I want to get all our players in to play. I also want to get out of the game healthy. You've already won the game, you want to win the next game. I've played as many players as we could play. I want to make sure we handle the game correctly. All that matters is that you win the football games. Period. That's how I see it."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu